Wednesday

Serenity Gunter died Nov. 6, just 15 days before her first birthday and 14 days after police say her mother, Pamela Black, immersed her in scalding water at their Lakeland home.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled the first name of Dr. Vera Volnikh of the District 10 Medical Examiner's Office. It also misidentified her gender. This story has been updated.

LAKELAND — Lakeland police arrested a 21-year-old woman on charges of aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child.

Serenity Gunter died Nov. 6, just 15 days before her first birthday and 14 days after police say her mother, Pamela Black, immersed her in scalding water at their home at 5115 N. Socrum Loop Road in Lakeland.

Black was arrested Monday and is being held at Polk County Jail without bail.

At the time of the scalding, Black lived at the apartment with her husband, a roommate, her husband’s 2-year-old son, and the baby.

According to Black’s arrest affidavit, the incident occurred about 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 23, but Serenity was not transported to the hospital for nearly 1½ hours after she was severely burned.

She suffered third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body, and staff at Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center ordered she be transported by helicopter to Tampa General Hospital that night for more intensive care.

Initially, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office was called to work the case, as staff at Lakeland Regional thought the incident had taken place in unincorporated Polk County.

In an interview with a deputy who took statements from Black and her husband at Tampa General, Black said she was giving Serenity a bath in the kitchen sink. She said she turned away to clear off the countertop for a towel, and the water remained running in the sink with the baby, according to the arrest affidavit.

Black told the deputy that while her attention was on the counter, she heard Serenity cry and noticed the baby had turned the hot water on herself, according to reports. Black also told the deputy that her husband was in his bedroom with his son and not present when Serenity was burned.

According to Black’s arrest affidavit, she tried to get her husband to use the same story.

But, the affidavit said, her husband told police he was downstairs with his son playing in the apartment building’s courtyard because he and Black had an argument about their vehicle that had broken down. He told police he heard a scream that he would “never forget,” and that when he ran upstairs, he saw Black holding Serenity by her arms and feet, raising her from the kitchen sink.

Black showed “no emotion” when he first saw her removing Serenity from the sink, her husband said, and added it was only after he took the baby from Black’s hands that Black began to cry.

After removing the baby from Black, the husband and roommate began to put aloe and baby powder on her burns, but the baby’s skin began to peel and her burns became worse.

An hour and a half after the incident, another friend of the family arrived to drive them to Lakeland Regional Health.

Several health officials and the medical examiner disagreed with Black’s account of the scalding, noting that the burn patterns were consistent with “immersion” burns versus a burn received from running water.

Dr. Vera Volnikh of the Polk County Medical Examiner's Office in Winter Haven performed an autopsy Nov. 8. During the autopsy, in addition to the burns, she found a “brain bleed” near the rear of the brain and immediately beneath the skull, according to reports, estimating that the injury happened seven to 10 days before the baby's death and was caused by the baby being "purposely shaken.”

Volnikh’s findings also noted that “the victim’s body was folded inward by her torso and legs, and was lowered, buttocks first, into the scalding hot water forcefully.” She said the cause of death was “thermal injury burns” and manner of death a “homicide.”

“This innocent child suffered a great deal under the care of the person who should have protected her the most," Lakeland Police Department spokeswoman Robin Tillett said in a press release. "Our Special Victim’s Unit detectives worked countless hours, partnering with medical professionals and the State Attorney’s Office to ensure this little girl had a voice and that justice would be served for her.”

Kathy Leigh Berkowitz can be reached at kberkowitz@theledger.com or at 863-802-7558. Follow her on Twitter @kberkowitzthel1.

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